Downtown tower gets green endorsement

It still hasn’t broken ground, but Skanska’s Capitol Towerplanned for the site of the now-vacant Houston Club building has received LEED V4 Platinum pre-certification, the newest version of green building standards from the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council.

The design is the first in Houston — and one of just a few in the United States — to receive the designation, New York-based Skanska USA Commercial Development said in a recent announcement.

The developer detailed the building’s sustainable features:

a high-performance building façade that significantly reduces solar gain;

a rainwater collection system for reuse in landscape irrigation and water closets;

bicycle racks, lockers and showers to encourage commuting.

The tower, which will be built at 808 Capitol, was designed by Gensler to include 750,000 square feet of high-end office space. Plans for the site include a two-level, open-air lobby connecting the street with the tunnel system.

“Skanska made it clear from the beginning of the design process that they wanted this to be the most sustainable building in Houston,” Gensler principal Kristopher Stuart said in a statement. “We really pushed our team to move beyond anything we have done before to create a building that offers an exceptional work environment in a high-performance envelope that will dramatically reduce operating costs. The design also places an extraordinary emphasis on public spaces and pedestrian experiences which we believe will greatly enhance and enrich Houston’s urban fabric.

The USGBC launched LEED V4 last year to build on “the core fundamentals of the current version of LEED while streamlining the certification process and placing a significant emphasis on building performance.”